Today’s beer choice came from several different inspirations. First off Butternuts Beer and Ales has some of the most creative and irreverent beer-naming going. Who couldn’t love Porkslap Pale Ale, Moo Thunder Stout or Heinnieweisse Wheat. But what sealed it for me was a conversation I had many moons ago with a now-local brewmaster. …well at east he WAS local.

Back when he was making the move, Shawnee Craft brewmaster Leo Bongiorno shared a beer and a great story with me from his days at Butternuts. I’ll leave out the funny details of many of the other names, but Leo’s story about today’s show beer made my mind up to feature Snapperhead IPA.

Now don’t get me wrong…this is a great IPA. It’s probably a little more malty than a traditional IPA, but the hop is there. According to the Butternuts website (and be SURE to check out their website!) Snapperhead is “every bit as rich and a little less bitter that other American interpretations of the breed”…but only because they are “smarter and better-looking brew masters.” And this sets the tone for their entire website and line of beers.

Be sure to try Snapperhead IPA for yourself. It’s readily available locally and easily affordable….oh and what was the story Leo told me? As it turns out, as much as the can has a fish on it…Leo tells me the beer was affectionately named after his grandmother who had lost her hair thanks to a skin condition, She had many different wigs which were at times confusing to “install” so because of that she actually had “snaps” surgically attached to her head (and each wig) to allow her to comfortably wear them. A funny story for sure, and a great IPA.

We’ve been talking about this for a while, so I’m excited to be the first to show off the Sierra Nevada 16oz Torpedo Cans (7.2% ABV) and Pale Ale 12oz cans (5.6% ABV). Can’t wait to see if these show up in NEPA.

We brought you news of Bell’s Brewery Quinannan Falls Special Lager Beer in 750ml bottles back in May…so today it was interesting to see this brew approved for 12oz bottles. Looks like we may see more distribution for this 6.3% ABV lager (yes it’s a lower ABV form the 750ml bottles).

Today we have the NEW 22oz label designs for Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale & Black Butte Porter. Most of the differences from the 12oz bottles involve the colors and the sawtooth edging around the oval portion of the logo, but compared side-by-side with the old ones, they do look quite different. I suspect we’ll see these same revisions on their other 22oz bottles in the coming weeks.

29 September 2011

La Citrueille Cèleste De Citracado (ale brewed with pumpkin, yams, toasted fenugreek, lemon verbena & Birch bark. We brought you the keg label last week, and today we have not only the bottle label, but three different backing labels (one from each brewery). This co-brew will be bottles in 12oz packaging and come in at 5% ABV. Check out the backing labels and yes the pumpkins DID come from Stone Farms.

I love seeing new brews coming out of our local breweries….so today I’m excited to show off the Iron Hill Brewery XV 15th Anniversary Ale. This 750ml bottled beer is an “American Imperial Tripel”…and check out the 65 IBU and BIG 15% ABV (appropriate for a 15th anniversary)!!

Since we’re already talking The Bruery, today we have the 750ml packaging for holiday seasonal 4 Calling Birds. Next verse in their 12-beers of Christmas sequence of bottles, this label seems to be lagging behind a little…especially given that they’re shipping it as part of the Rare Beer Clun Oct offering already. Looks like it will be an 11% ABV Belgian-style dark ale brewed with spices (gingerbread-like).

For years now the original Terrapin Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout has been nicknamed Wake ‘n Bake…but now it looks like out pal Spike has decided to make it official…sort of. Today we have W-N-B (hmmm what could that possibly stand for?) This 12oz brew will be a new beer in the Monster Beer Tour seasonal 2011 and this stout with coffee (Jittery Joe’s) added will be packaged in 12oz bottles and come in at a big 8.1% ABV,,,”so when it comes to a morning beverage…Why Not Beer!”

I’m a big fan of Southern Tier 2X IPA so I was surprised to see today the release of Southern Tier 2X Stout. This big 8% ABV Double Milk Stout is brewed with 3 varieties of hops and 4 types of malts and will be package din 12oz bottles. Can’t wait to try this one.

Here’s an exciting new seasonal from Allagash Brewing called Ghoulschip (ale aged in oak barrels & brewed with pumpkin, toasted pumpkin seeds & molasses.) Of course this uses the new Allagash coolship fermentation tables and this 6.9% ABV fall seasonal will be packaged in 12.7oz bottles….a very spooky sized bottle.

UPDATE 10/18: Ghoulschip will be released on Halloween 2011—limited to 1200 bottles!

Just a few miscellaneous new packages to wrap up this early morning approval session…. Iron City Beer (The Beer Drinkers Beer 12oz Can brewed in Latrobe, PA), Brau Bros 3 Bohemian Soup Small Town Pilsner (co-brewed with Novozymes using local MN barley—12oz), Big Sky Brewing Biere de Noel (750ml, 10.13% ABV—and be sure to check out the gutted Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer hanging in the tree!), and Texas Busch (special edition cans 12 & 16oz)

28 September 2011

Last week we had a great time premiering Stone Brewing 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA…and an even greater time having head brewer Mitch Steele join us on the show to sample Stone 15. A big thank you also to Lee Marren from Stone Brewing for joining us after the show to hand out samples of Stone 15 @ Krugel’s Georgetown Deli & Beer….all in all a wonderful example of “Bringing Good Beers and Good People Together!”

So what will we be sampling this week? Hint: This week we’re going hoppy (big surprise there huh?!) and we’re opening up a can so be sure to head on over to WILK to listen!

Tune in at 8:30AM and see what beer we sample on the Friday BeerBuzz on WILK…bringing good beers and good people together. (103.1FM or wilknewsradio.com).

Sierra (the NATO / phonetic alphabet letter “S”) is the next up in our series of Brewers’ Select beers. Sierra is Weyerbacher’s take on a milk stout.

Starting off with a healthy dose of Maris Otter as a base we integrate some roasted barley, plenty of chocolate and munich malts, a touch of flaked oats and some milk sugar (lactose) to balance out this roasty treat.

The dark chocolate and roastiness stemming from the malts along with the slight residual cream-like sweetness left from the milk sugar make for a complementary flavor that’s sure to please the stout lover and even those not yet familiar with this old English style of ale.

(At this exact moment, Sierra is kegged but not yet bottled… as we are awaiting official signoff on our label approval. Look for this beer mid October. As with all of our Brewers’ Select beers, 12oz bottles are available exclusively at the Weyerbacher Visitors Center and the draft is made available fantastic bars in a limited number of states – Cheers!)

Here’s another new package from Mikkeller called 19. This American-style IPA is named for the 19 different hop varieties this brew uses(In order of quantity—Simcoe, Amarillo, Sorachi Ace, Bravo, Columbus, Cluster, Warrior, Cascade, Centennial, Palisade, Challenger, Galena, Magnum, Mt Hood, Tettnanger, Nugget, Super Galena & Williamette). To give you an idea of quantity there is 17.14% Simcoe down to .71% Williamette. Look for this colorful label (based on Mikkeller’s single-shop series labels) to ride on 11.2oz bottles and come in at 6.8% ABV

Lots of new stuff again coming from Mikkeller. This time it’s a co-brew with Stillwater Artisanal called The Original Gypsy Tears Hoppy Stout…and yes the beer on the label doesn’t appear to be a stout at all. “This is the ultimate Handcrafted Stout. Gypsy Tears is brewed with 100% of the finest Hops & Saison yeast.” Looks like it will be packaged in 500ml bottles and come in at 8.5% ABV. This collaboration will be brewed & bottled at Fan0 Bryghus in Denmark.

Here’s the keg-only (so far) version of Sierra Nevada Raiders of the Last Hops (ale brewed with lemon wood chips added) aka Beer Camp #58. This brew will come in at 7.6% ABV and is perhaps my favorite SN name since The Empire Strikes Black!

This nasty little ale is made with Crisp Maris Otter pale malt, Gambrinus Honey Malt, roasted barley, chocolate malt and dark crystal malt along with a heaping, meaty dose of Oskar Blues home smoked malt (no kidding; there’s meat in it) and generously hopped with Columbus all the way through the boil. A huge dollop of Lyons Local Madhava Wildflower Honey at the end of the boil takes it up a notch. Honey Badger don’t care; he just drinks the s**t up. Your nose will be attacked with a plume of cherry wood while your palate is tsunamied with rich chocolatey-caramel flavors and campfire smoke. Served at locally at Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids & Solids (Longmont) and Grill & Brew (Lyons) with an OB Hops & Heifers Farm meat stick. About 6% ABV.

MAPLE SHADE, NJ – On Monday, October 3 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m., Unibroue Master Brewer Jerry Vietz will join Head Brewer Chris LaPierre at Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant (124 East Kings Highway, 856-273-0300) for an informal meet-and-greet and happy hour. The pair will mingle with guests and chat about their beers, including their forthcoming collaborative brew, while pouring some of their favorites. Guests can pay as they go and enjoy both Iron Hill and Unibroue beers.

Unibroue offerings on tap will include: Maudite, a strong amber-red ale characterized by a robust maltiness and spiciness; Raftman, a peat-smoked whisky malt ale with notes of caramelized apple; and Ephemere Blackcurrant, a white ale brewed with black currants for refreshing acidity and a touch of sweetness.

Here’s a new one coming out of Saranac (brewed @ FX Matt) called High Peaks Imperial IPA. This is the updated label for their High Peaks series Imperial IPA. This brew uses 10 malts and 10 hops to hit the big 8.5% ABV and 85 IBU. (12oz bottles).

Nope I couldn’t possibly make up such a name myself…so this AM we have Evil Twin Brewing called (take a deep breath) Christmas Eve at a New York City Hotel Room. This 8.5% ABV Imperial Stout looks like Evil Twin’s holiday seasonal and it will be packaged in 11.2oz bottles.

Up first in our cavalcade of new labels this AM is New Holland Pilgrim’s Dole Wheat Wine Ale aged in Bourbon Barrels. This 2011brew from their High Gravity Series is BIG at 12% ABV and it will be package din 12oz bottles.

I always like to keep an eye on the macro brewery packaging, and today we have two interesting packages from Anheuser Busch. Up first we have Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat Belgian-style wheat ale brewed with pumpkin & spices. This 12oz 5.2% brew actually had one label surrendered and one approved all in the same day.

The other interesting item today is that several versions of Shock Top Belgian White were approved, the most notable is the CAN label (below). Yep that’s right Shock Top cans in 12 and 16oz.

27 September 2011

Energy Edge Technologies Corporation has reduced energy consumption at a Yuengling brewery in Tampa, Fla., by over 14 percent.

The efficiency analysis and subsequent refit also improved light quality and increased transformer capacity by 13 percent. The project has an estimated 18-month return on investment, according to Energy Edge.

The Tampa brewery is one of two run by Yuengling, America’s oldest operating beer company.

Refits carried out by Energy Edge come with a written guarantee of projected energy savings and estimated return on investment. Projected savings are backed by a surety bond underwritten by Lloyds of London. This means that there is no financial risk to customers, Energy Edge says.

In May last year, Anheuser-Busch announced the installation of a solar array on the roof of its Newark, N.J., brewery that now generates more than 523,000 kW hours of electricity a year.

The array consists of more than 3,000 solar panels and covers 65,000 square feet. At peak production it supplies nearly 5 percent of the brewery’s energy.

Happy Ending Imperial Stout: Here’s a great new package for this Catch & Release series “white legs season” brew. This package includes the GABF & World Beer Cup medals (22oz & 9% ABV)…and the following message: “Rub figured a hopped roll by dry stiffy body in ending a explosive lube stout finish the huge on resulting a mom”—Not a typo…you figure it out.

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